How to Gain the Leadership Experience Employers Want

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leadership-skills-to-help-get-the-jobAccording to The Job Outlook for the College Class of 2013 by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), nearly all of the top ten bachelor degrees for hiring in the current job market involve leadership ability. These include some of the most popular degrees offered online, such as business administration and marketing management (November 2012). Furthermore, even if you are an e-learner who does not intend to pursue a direct supervisory role, “leadership” is an often cited soft skill on most prospective employers’ lists of wants for their employees.

Clearly, leadership is a new trend in hiring, and graduates about to enter the workforce must be prepared to develop and demonstrate that they have this talent. But what is meant by “leadership skills,” and how do students, especially e-learners, attain and document that they have such abilities? To help guide you, here is an explanation of what employers are looking for and ways you can show them you have leadership skills.

Leadership Defined

Most experts agree that leadership can be a bit difficult to define. Therefore, David Mielach of Business News Daily went right to the source, the leaders of business and industry, to discover, “10 Ways to Define Leadership” (27 December 2012). The answer that stands out most of all is the definition offered by business consultant, Kendra Coleman:

    Leadership is an act — a decision to take a stand, or step, in order to encourage, inspire or motivate others to move with you. What’s more, the most effective leaders do not rely on their title, or positional power, to lead. Rather, their ability to use their own personal power combined with their use of strategic influence are what make them effective” (qtd. in Mielach. 27 December 2012).

Most see leadership as the ability to take proactive, preventative, results-producing action. This has no connection to a job title or position. Rather, the group of experts Mielach interviewed sees leadership as an inner strength that inspires outward results, a sense of vision that envelops others and guides a team to further success.

There are a few additional traits that are often mentioned.

Additional Characteristics

Some additional attributes of leadership should also be kept in mind. Good leaders are:

  • Flexible with people and situations: According to author and expert trainer,
  • Ken Blanchard,  leadership involves the understanding of when to direct, coach, support, and/or delegate to co-workers as a supervisor or team member based on the context.
  • Entrepreneurial/Intrapreneurial: They have the creativity and dynamism to operate outside the box to problem solve and get things done whether you are owning and operating your own business (entrepreneur) or working within an organization (intrapreneur ).
  • Communicative: They possess the ability to get a message across to others and to guide the exchange of ideas verbally or electronically.

Note that some of these attributes are broken down separately on lists of skills employers look for in employees.

Ways to gain leadership skills

There are quite a few ways that students, online or on-ground, can gain leadership experience. You may even be doing some of these already.

  • Stand out favorably in class and obtain letters of recommendation from professors, collect relevant feedback (e.g., on assignments from faculty and other students), and save copies of your best work.
  •  Lead group projects and document what you did and why; be careful to do this in accordance with the characteristics described above rather than in a pushy way.
  •  Take specific courses related to leadership, and if possible, take some independent study classes that would allow you to work with a professor on a topic specifically related to leadership development in your field.
  • Obtain certifications related to leadership by checking what is offered by your school (e.g., See these offerings by Villanova University ) or respected external, career/employer specific programs (e.g., See the U.S. Office of Personnel Management ).
  • Participate in organizations, such as Keith Hawkins’s Real Inspiration, Inc. which provides opportunities to train and get involved in leadership from middle school through college.
  • Seek out positions of leadership in student organizations at your school. Most will list these on their websites as Aurora University does, or consider starting your own group. Some groups, such as The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) have special leadership development programs and chapters at online universities (e.g., Kaplan University).
  • Consider entry-level jobs, internships/externships, and volunteer positions in which you may develop and increasingly demonstrate leadership skills. Your department and/or school should be able to assist you with finding a suitable position.

How to document leadership for employers

Now that you understand what leadership is and have some ways to gain skills in this area, it’s also time to think about how you will demonstrate this to employers. Here are some suggestions to get you started.

  • Most application processes still rely on the traditional cover letter and resume with transcripts, though often this is presented via an online application site. Follow a
  • functional resume format that will highlight what you can do, and be sure to add a specific (sub)heading for “Leadership Skills.”
  • Online applications will often allow you to attach transcripts, additional documents, and/or electronic links. Take full advantage of these options to add scanned copies of certifications, screen shots of your work, letters of recommendation, sample projects—anything you have done or are currently involved with that shows you are a leader.
  • Software options exist that will also help you demonstrate your leadership skills to potential employers. Consider using Live Binders, Zotero, or screen capture software to assemble a professional overview of your work; then share a link with prospective employers on your resume or in your cover letter.
  • Social media is a powerful tool, and hiring managers are increasingly consulting the digital footprint of job candidates. Carefully brand yourself as an up and coming leader in your field within social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Share links to these sites with prospective employers within your application.

Pursuing, documenting, and demonstrating that you have leadership skills can take time; however, the knowledge that employers are increasingly looking for talent in this area, especially in some of the top career fields, should motivate you to take action. You also do not need to accomplish all of the above steps at once. Rather, try to focus on one or two ways each semester and gradually build an impressive portfolio for employers and online presence that brands you clearly as a leader.

 

Guest author Michael Keathley has been an active writer, editor and educator for over 20 years and also writes pieces for bestcollegesonline.com, where the article was originally posted.

Please join Michael on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.

 

Are You the Right Cultural Fit for Your Company?

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Our friends at Good.co are creating some pretty amazing tools. Employee engagement is hot right now, not just because it’s the buzz term of choice, but because employers AND employees want to be happy. Good.co has created a Fit Test that assesses who you are and how you think, resulting in archetypes that categorize your social style, work style, and key traits.

Beyond a personal analysis (I am  a humanitarian, rock and advocate) the system connects with your LinkedIn profile and can rank your archetype with your current and previous employers and managers, your peers that have signed up, as well as teams that you have worked on. The ultimate goal is to either check that the company you work for is a fit, and you’re a fit for them or to find a company that is a fit for your archetype.  As Good.co puts it, “No matter where you are in your career path, it’s never too late to find yourself in Good Company.”

Sign up to take your fit test, check out the site, and click below to read about the archetypes.

 

 

Author: Elyse Lopez

Onboarding Is More Than a Welcome Wagon

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SWAG is great. Who wouldn’t like a new company  tote bag, bottle of wine and candy jar on their new desk? Welcome wagons are just that. They are usually things and small events that welcome someone new to a company, and after a few weeks are gone. If there is no more than that to bring someone new into your company, you are potentially setting your company as well as new employee up for failure. So from a technical and strategic view,  where does onboarding fit in the hiring process?

Successful onboarding is the result of several human resource management functions moving and working together in harmonious fashion. According to Karla Walker of American Family Insurance, five components make up the Strategic Onboarding Process and it is a collaborative process:

 

  1. Align: Ensure the organization agrees on the need for the new hire and specific role. This is key, the organization has to be on the same page before bringing in anyone otherwise a poor fit for the company in general may be hired.
  2. Acquire: Recruit, interview, and select the new hire based on hard skills, and cultural fit for the company.
  3. Integrate: Provide the building blocks: socialization for new hires to connect with others who can provide information and build relationships; culture to learn a sense of the organizational norms; clarification to ensure employees understand their new jobs and expectations and; compliance to teach the basic legal and policy-related rules and regulations.
  4. Support and Development: Give new hires and agents tools, resources, experiences needed to do the work. If this is not provided you are impairing the new hire’s ability to grow or succeed in any way.
  5. Accelerate: Help new hires/agents and the team perform better and faster.

Welcome bags/ boxes/wagons should still be provided. Introductory lunches are great for team building and a morale booster for existing employees, but be sure that you focus on more than SWAG when bringing in a new hire from administrative to executive level.

If you need help with your onboarding strategy, Brightwing’s Brightstartwould be more than happy to help grow your workplace culture.

Author: Jenny Dickey

Living Case Study: Employee Engagement

Charles Rogel, a Director at DecisionWise, defines employee engagement in terms of “both a feeling (state) and by behaviors (outcomes, results).”

“People who feel engaged in their work and life experience a sense of energy and excitement about what they do. They genuinely like their work and look forward to accomplishing the tasks before them. These feelings lead to outcomes such as active participation in work, higher levels of contribution, and giving their best effort.”

At Brightwing we have implemented many practices over our 40 years in business that aim to engage our diverse and ever-growing workforce. Some of the tactics we’ve utilized have been a little less than conventional. As Marketing Director for the organization many of these quirky and not-so-traditional endeavors have fallen on me and my team.

As such, yesterday evening I found myself painting an oversized mural of a tree on a wall in our office’s main hallway. This art project was just the first step in a new campaign to increase our referral business. At the beginning of the year, our business from referrals was 33% and by the end of the year we aim to grow that number to 50%. Taking the time to ask for referrals and leads sounds like an easy thing to do, but we’re all human, we simply forget. Therefore, we’re currently implementing a company-wide campaign that we hope will make asking for referrals apart of our Brightwing culture, something we talk a lot about around here.

This is where the giant tree comes in: the organization has been split into teams. Each team gets its own branch on the tree. As teams collect leads, off-shoot branches and leaves will be added to the mural. Essentially, it’s a visual representation of how together, we are all (sales, recruiters, operations, marketing) working together to organically grow our business from the ground up. Additionally, daily, weekly and monthly updates will be cascaded out to the organization. We even have our very own mascot, the WHOOT owl, that is being displayed around the office in various forms and is sending out helpful WHOOTS about creative ways to ask for leads and shout outs to top performers. Take note, we realize this may sound a little elementary, but we’ve found that at Brightwing humor goes a LONG way. We never take ourselves too seriously and push the cheese limit at times, all our weekly prizes are owl themed.

Running a 6 month campaign to drive referrals won’t make your company employee engagement super stars, but creating animated contests and programs around behaviors you want to instill is a great start.  It is one piece of a large puzzle that can help you energize employees to actively participate and genuinely love the work they do.

Stay tuned for updates on our current employee engagement campaign and to get creative ideas for engaging your workforce.

April JenningsAuthor: April Jennings, Marketing Director

How Much Are Disengaged Employees Costing You?

Employee engagement, to put it simply, is the level to which your employees embrace the organization’s goals as their own. It is a cultural issue, so it affects and is affected by everything leadership does. You have a pop machine at work? That’s great, but the short lived thrill of a fountain soda will eventually wear off. Pop machines are not a cultural solution, contrary to popular belief. Spending leadership time to focus on ways to recognize, empower and communicate with employees will result in positive morale, revenue and clients.

Our friends across the pond at H&H  have allowed us to use their employee engagement infographic. The most promising statistic? Highly engaged organizations can reduce staff turnover by 87%

Click here for the full size image

Change Your Onboarding to Get the Most Out of Your Investment

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Hypothetically speaking, I want to lose 10 lbs.  I could start out by running, but if I don’t take the extra steps to eat healthy and get more sleep for example, I won’t be getting the most out of my investment. Just like when you hire an employee, one of the largest investments an organization can make, you have to be diligent enough to take the necessary actions to make them a fully functional member of the organization.

A well thought out onboarding strategy can ensure that your new employees are engaged and healthy members of your culture for a long time to come.

In the short term, a high-potential onboarding program improves productivity of employees by showing:

  • Quicker ramp-up in the company and performance in their job
  • Confidence as they navigate the new organizational waters and do their job well
  • They are motivated and well-adjusted in their role
  • They know who to go to when they have questions
  • They understand their role and job expectations
  • They are socially comfortable and accepted by peers
  • They have no poor job attitudes

The long-term outcomes of onboarding will show that employees have:

    • Higher job satisfaction
    • Organizational commitment
    • Lower turnover
    • Higher performance levels
    • Career effectiveness
    • Lowered stress
    • Research shows successful onboarding leads to good employee retention rates and improved performance is a long-term outcome of successful onboarding
    • Employees will navigate to the company’s culture and find their place within it

If you need help with your onboarding strategy, Brightwing’s Brightstartwould be more than happy to help grow your workplace culture.

 

If You Provide Only Orientation, You’re Failing Your Employees

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Having been in the business for over 40 years, we have been asked a multitude of questions. One that has come up frequently in conversations with clients is “What is the difference between orientation and on boarding?” There is a definitive difference, and if you are only providing orientation you may be missing out on the opportunity to get new employees up to speed effectively and efficiently. Here’s the breakdown:

Orientations are meant to orient newly hired employees. Orienting is good. It provides the new hire with insights into the company’s mission, vision, and values. It gives new hires an introduction to the organization’s history and gives them more detail about their department, benefits plans, and set up for payroll. (Steve Cohen, On Boarding Can Mean More To Company Than New Hire. January 27, 2012). Orientation is the introductory stage in the process of new employee assimilation, and a part of his or her continuous socialization process in the organization. Many organizations focus here, and conclude any formal program within the first few weeks of employment. (Knowledge Advisors. August 5, 2009.)

Onboarding, however, takes it to the next level. It is the structured way a company brings newly hired employees into their “fold.” It is more about getting insights and information from the new hire. (Steve Cohen, On Boarding Can Mean More To Company Than New Hire. January 27, 2012).

  • This takes several meetings within the first 90 days. It starts with the candidate being “sold” on coming to work with the particular organization, an interview to ensure both the individual and the hiring company are a good match, one-on-one meetings with the supervisor, manager, and manager’s manager. And a meeting to determine if there is variance between what the new hire thought it’s like to work at the company and what the actual employees think it’s really like to work there. Then there are meetings to evaluate the new hire’s performance.
  • Onboarding is about communicating up and down. It is about finding out what is good, as well as what needs improvement, and then dialoging about it all.
  • Onboarding is a process of aligning, assimilating, integrating, and transitioning a new employee. (Knowledge Advisors. August 5, 2009.)

 

Author: Jenny Dickey

Training Dollars — Power to Your People

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You’ve read countless articles about the importance of investing in your employees. You know that an engaged, well-skilled employee will be more productive and contribute to the overall growth of the organization. You may also know that employees who are holistically developed and evolve within an organization have a better chance of attaining long-term success. Since you know all of the basics, here are a few facts that you may not know. A strong investment in employee training and development can produce benefits to the bottom line. It can lead to a:

24% higher profit margin
218% higher income per employee
86% higher company value
21% increase in productivity
300% reduction in employee turnover
A return per dollar invested of $6.72
(www.gazelles.com/roi.html Executive Training is a Must in Today’s Competitive Markets, by George “Bud” Arquilla III)

So why don’t organizations invest more in training? You’ve heard it a million times – “our employees are our most valuable asset,” but in reality they are tracked as costs. Training and development has great potential for returns but it’s also one of the first budgets to get cut when times are tough. Organizations must be committed to the long-term goal and it’s hard to connect revenue and profit back to intangible assets.

There are some companies out there that get it. “A comparison of organizations on Chief Learning Officer magazine’s 2012 Learning Elite and the 2012 100 Best Companies to Work For show some familiar names on both, including General Mills, Qualcomm, Accenture, Deloitte and NetApp” (Being an A-list Company Pays, by Keith Dunbar, Chief Learning Officer, February 2013).

These companies understand how learning and development can impact an organization’s overall performance beyond just employee engagement and retention. It’s important that learning leaders understand the goals of their organization and act as advocates for the development of their talent. Learning programs need to be aligned with the long term goals and direction of the organization.

“The single biggest predictor of a company’s ability to beat its direct competitors in its industry and the overall stock market was the amount the company spends on training its people” (Dr. Laurie Bassi, author of Good Company: Business Success in the Worthiness Era). So again, why invest in training? Yes of course, to improve employee productivity, retention and loyalty. But in the end, the bottom line is – to improve your organization’s competitive advantage.

 

Author: Jenny Dickey

Do You Work With or Against Your Employees?

Alas, it’s almost time for mid-year reviews: time to evaluate employees’ progress and figure out how they can improve and become more valuable assets to the organization. <Cringe.> It can be a difficult and awkward conversation all the way around, with the manager pointing out what needs fixing and the employee acknowledging all of his or her imperfections. According to Gallup, though, this process puts three of its 12 Elements of Engagement into play, including “There is someone at work who encourages my development;” “In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress;” and “This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.” Obviously the review process doesn’t have to live up to its typically negative connotation: it can truly be an opportunity for the employee to develop a bond with the company he or she works for.

Everyone has “areas of opportunity,” but this can be interpreted a couple of different ways. What first comes to mind are the things people aren’t naturally good at, skill sets they weren’t born with, or maybe subjects they don’t enjoy. While they can take classes, attend conferences and seminars, or read a billion blogs and whitepapers, they’ll probably never excel in those areas, creating an uphill battle. The thing is, though, that it’s easier for a manger to behave reactively by finding an area where the employee falls behind in the metrics and say, “This is what you need to do better. We’ll use this as a training objective for the quarter,” which can discourage and, therefore, disengage the employee.

On the other hand, everyone has “areas of opportunity” for which they have a natural propensity and unique skill sets to contribute. If managers keep the subject positive and proactive (What are some of the things this employee does, or has the potential to do, better than most? What can he or she add to this company that we really want to focus on and help develop?), that’s where engagement is built. The acknowledgement of ability, particularly one that’s important enough to the organization that they want to help cultivate it, builds employee confidence and happiness. Why not use positive motivation by highlighting and building upon the existing traits, rather than trying to force the proverbial square peg into its round hole or create something out of nothing?

Now there are a variety of ways to determine which elements of an employee’s skill set would most benefit your company – assessment tools of all kinds, metrics met to be modified, etc. – but the important part is using the review and individual goal-setting process to engage and retain employees. If you develop goals that leave them feeling like they’re swimming upstream, they’re far more likely to grow disenchanted, resulting in lower productivity, etc. If the goals make them feel unique and valuable, they’ll be both happier and more productive.

 

Author: Rachel Harris

Are Your Supplemental Staff Treated Like Aliens?

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Is there a distinct difference in how you treat your supplemental workers and your direct employees? Over the years we have found that the way many companies attract, recruit and engage their supplemental staff differs greatly from how they manage their direct employees.  If this is true for your organization, it’s time to reevaluate some of your people processes.

Today many of the supplemental workers inside our organizations are in key strategic positions. Because of their expertise, they are often utilized for high-value, mission critical positions. They work on teams with temporary workers as well as direct employees. It’s also not uncommon for them to reside within an organization on a temporary or supplemental basis for periods in excess of 1 or 2 years. In many cases, supplemental workers are eventually hired on as direct employees.

If supplemental workers play such vital roles within our organizations, why would we recruit them any differently? We’ve witnessed many forward thinking organizations put beneficial processes into place for hiring and retaining top performers. Yet, they fall short in the way they hire and engage supplemental workers. They change the tried and true hiring best practices they’ve put in place throughout the organization. While supplemental workers technically work directly for another company, they often reside within your environment, working side by side with your other employees. Factors like culture fit, core values and management style should still play a critical role in the hiring process no matter who you are hiring

Why do we treat supplemental workers differently? Unfortunately we’ve witnessed instances where temporary employees were forced to eat lunch separately from full time employees. Some organizations have rules about where suppleental staff can sit in reference to management. Treating supplemental workers like second class employees not only harms their productivity, but the morale of the rest of your team. If this is how you treat people who sometimes are filling mission critical and important roles in your organization, what level of engagement or loyalty to completing the project might there be?

Haphazardly hiring supplemental workers and treating them like outsiders is killing your business.

  • Effects the ability of your team to function properly
  • Creates a separation from the end goal that everyone in the organization is supposed to be focused on.
  • You run the risk of losing key players within your organization because of disruptions and lack of unity and focus on end goal. These key players are often hard people to replace and vital to the organization.
  • Leads to high turnover
  • Negatively effects your culture
  • Leads to communication gaps

Some companies are looking at the whole picture, maximizing everyone’s potential. Integrating their supplemental staff, working with vendors that help them hire to their company’s values/cultural standards and also take care of their employees. As the employment marketplace continues to evolve, the trend towards using temporary or supplemental staff has been increasing not only in volume, but in the complexity and importance of the roles that are being filled. We understand that there is a necessary separation between supplemental staff and full time hires, but you cannot remove the human element or the importance of the engagement necessary to make the use of supplemental employees effective in your organization.

 

Author: George Opitz, President of Brightwing

It’s Time to Demand Real Leadership

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“Leadership is not so much about technique and methods, as it is about opening the heart. Leadership is about inspiration—of oneself and of others. Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes. Leadership is not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine.”  ~ Lance Secretan

You and I are affected by great leadership.  Our parents, grandparents, our siblings and children have all been impacted by many of the same people. How and why have their lives changed ours?  By stimulating and nurturing our growth.

These men and women have profoundly shaped and directed our lives.  Indirectly it might be the great political, military, spiritual, educational and cultural leaders through the ages.  Those who have lived and accomplished noteworthy events and brought positive changes to our world. Directly and specifically it would be the parent, the teacher, the minister or rabbi, the coach or any one of a number of people who have in some way touched our lives by their words or deeds. They have served us and in that service we were enriched and rewarded. They planted a seed, nurtured an idea and helped us shape our thinking, choices and habits.  We grew because they gave.  Leaders grow people.

“One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” – Abraham Maslow

Our growth is not always a planned and calculated result of a leader’s effort.  Many times it happens seemingly by accident. Yet there is always a principle of life involved in any true growth experience.  True growth happens when the right conditions for growth exist.   People do not normally grow under strained or austere conditions.  They may survive and exist but they will not grow.  Without the proper conditions, growth will not only be limited, it will be stifled altogether.  Distrust fostered by broken promises or hypocritical actions and words is a growth killer.

Our Most Valuable Resource…People

The most valuable resource of our country is the people.  The most valuable resource of any organization is the people.  Often times that resource is being neglected and misused and in some cases abused.  How are we going to tap this rich vein of productivity?  What are the steps we need to take to utilize this resource?

One of the first and most important is to practice principle-based leadership. Principle-based leadership is focused first and foremost on doing the right thing with the people. When we learn to manage things and lead people we will tap the wealth and abundance of talent currently unused.

You manage things.  You lead people… Today, more than ever we need leaders.

We also need to learn the difference between leadership and management.  Cars are similar to trucks, but they aren’t the same.  Cats are similar to dogs, but they aren’t the same.  Likewise, there are similarities between leaders and managers but they aren’t the same.  You manage things.  You lead people.

“Management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things.”— Peter F. Drucker

Leadership looks at the WHY and WHAT while management looks at the how and when.  Leadership is concerned about PRINCIPLES and QUALITY while management concerns itself with productivity and quantity.  Leadership involves itself with the VISION and DIRECTION.  Management involves itself with the movement and activity.  Leadership is focused on the issues of HEART while management is focused primarily on what comes out of the head and the hands.

Management fails when it takes its eye off the bottom line.  Leadership fails when it forgets the top line…PEOPLE.  If leaders fail, most often times it is due to insensitivity to people.  Managers fail when the bottom drops out and there’s nothing left for the most valuable resource of all, the people.
“Management works in the system; Leadership works on the system.”~ Stephen R. Covey
Do we really need managers? Absolutely!  But more than ever before the cry is being heard for those who can lead. The world markets are closing in on us at a rapid pace. The government and economy is in worse shape than ever before. Now is the time for a new breed of leadership.

Our culture suffers from drug problems, educational weaknesses, spiritual maladies and a host of others social illnesses too great to mention. Today, more than ever we need leaders.  Men and women, who will serve, sacrifice and show those who are starving how to fish so they can feed themselves for a lifetime.

Leaders who are principle-based and people-oriented will rise to the top and build the hope and the future of our tomorrows.  How are these leaders developed?  It’s time for a new formula or a renewing of an old formula that has been forgotten.  Understanding and applying the universal principles for growth will stimulate and cultivate the leaders that are needed for our current and future success.

“Dramatic growth wasn’t going to happen through doing more of what we’d done in the past.” – Gustavo Valle

Author: George Hendley
Instructor, Brightwing

George is a speaker, trainer and coach. Learn more about the instructor-led courses Brightwing offers. For a complete list of courses and detailed course outlines call 888-521-2478, ext. 317 or email Jenny.

Three Elements for Self Growth and Personal Excellence

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“Self-discipline is the foundation of freedom. It is the foundation of greatness, achievement, heroism, leadership, sanctity, and vibrant and flourishing communities and nations…”  Matthew Kelly

Leaders grow people by first growing themselves.  To neglect the most basic rule of self-growth before leading others is folly. Start with yourself and understand your own needs and wants, strengths and weaknesses.  Before you’ll achieve any public victory of note there must always be the private victory of self-growth which starts with self-discipline.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor will your personal foundations for leadership be constructed overnight.  It takes time, planning and the application of several key principles.

All too often we want the quick fix.  We have the tendency to think we can ignore our own discipline and development today and that we’ll take care of it tomorrow, or tomorrow, or tomorrow.  And so goes our whole lives.  Until we realize where leadership begins we’ll never have a long term positive impact.

Look in the mirror.  Would you trust, support and enthusiastically follow yourself?  Would you be willing to share your time, energy and talents in the pursuit of the vision and goals you are advocating?  People don’t expect perfection in their leadership.  Just something that closely resembles it.

“Take heed unto thyself” is an important and very powerful truth for anyone aspiring towards leadership.  It isn’t a selfish attitude that ignores the needs of others.  It is a realization that personal growth and development enable the leader to more effectively serve others.

“Self-assessment is the first action requirement of leadership: the constant re-sharpening, constant refocusing, never really being satisfied.”  Peter F. Drucker

Developing character that can withstand the rigors of change and stress is like growing a mighty oak tree.  It requires time and the proper elements for growth.  Here are three elements for self-growth and personal excellence in character development.

Be Actively Accountable
Harry Truman had a great saying on his desk; ‘The buck stops here’.  Today it’s a “pass the buck” society where few are willing to accept accountability for their actions. Personal responsibility is the first step in taking charge of your life.

Most people seem to want the government, their parents, their spouse, their boss or their friends to take the responsibility for their actions and their life.  Until you become actively accountable for who you are, where you are and what you are you’ll never go far.

An old poem closes with the following stanza:
You may fool the world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back, as you pass;
But your only reward will be heartache and tears,
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass. 

The man (or woman) in the glass is you.  Are you taking personal accountability for your own life and actions?

Paint Your Self-Portrait
Many great artists have done at least one self-portrait.  Some did many of them over a period of years detailing their own change and self-growth.  In developing these portraits they had to look closely at themselves seeing their flaws and imperfections.  Leaders must be aware of themselves, both their strengths and their weaknesses.

Seeing only the good or only the bad is a false and distorted picture.  How you see yourself today will in many ways determine where you see yourself tomorrow.  Focus on your strengths, but don’t ignore your weaknesses expecting them to disappear on their own.  Have you determined a clear, detailed and colorful vision for yourself?  Are you following a detailed and disciplined plan for personal and professional development?

Strengthen and Renew Yourself
Mental, physical and spiritual nourishment and exercise are prerequisites to a balanced healthy life.  Reading educational and inspirational material feeds the mind.  A good diet coupled with physical exercise using aerobic, strength building and flexibility regimens balances the bodily needs for renewal.  Prayer and meditation enhance the spiritual aspects of our lives giving acknowledgment to our creator. Stephen Covey referred to this as the ‘seventh habit’ of highly effective people.  How are you using and practicing self-renewal to sharpen your saw and make your productivity as strong and vibrant as possible?

Combining and consistently practicing these three elements of self-growth will absolutely bring you outstanding results in your pursuit of excellence as a leader.  Practice them and see for yourself.

“In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first.”  – Harry S. Truman

 

Author: George Hendley
Instructor, Brightwing

George is a speaker, trainer and coach. Learn more about the instructor-led courses Brightwing offers. For a complete list of courses and detailed course outlines call 888-521-2478, ext. 317 or email Jenny.

Leaders Grow People

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An ancient Chinese proverb says:

 If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain.
If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees.
If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people.

People are THE most valuable resource.  Hopefully this is more than just another nice cliché rolled off the tongue of an executive when cornered and asked about her top priorities. Yet it is often forgotten when the “bottom line” is being discussed.  Maybe it’s time we realigned our thinking, especially in corporate America, about the bottom line. Or perhaps we should look at people as the “top line” and top priority that they are.

Leaders grow people.  This isn’t done overnight.  This priority can’t be delegated to the “V.P. of people-growing” and quickly forgotten.   Growing people is an ongoing responsibility of any and all executives, bosses, managers, supervisors and folks-in-charge.  Where does this begin?  It starts with each of us individually, and continues with all of us collectively.

“Before you are a leader, success is all about yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – Jack Welch

All lead and all follow.  The question isn’t “do you lead”?  The question is “how well and how much”?  What is the quantity and quality of your leadership?  If just one person looks to you for direction, for decisions, for guidance, for help, for information you are leading that one.  And for that one, one hundred, one thousand or more you have an important responsibility. Right now, at this moment, you are a leader.

Leadership is a privilege and with all privileges there are accompanying responsibilities.  How do you deal with the responsibilities?  How do you steward the privileges?  You begin by growing yourself in your role as a follower.  You look out and see a need that is not being met.  You recognize a need both for yourself and others and you decide to act.  You start by learning the foundation of leadership…service.  Leadership starts when you take action, when you decide to serve.

“Leadership is not about money, fame and power; leadership is responsibility.”  – Peter Drucker

A wise farmer will study the weather patterns, the soil conditions, the growing season, the insects or other crop destroyers and numerous other details before planting the crop and expecting a rich harvest.  The smart coach will review the rules of the game, the game plan, the player’s strengths, the competition and a myriad of other details in preparing for a winning season.  Likewise, the individual wanting to increase her leadership must first make the necessary plans and preparations to develop her own leadership abilities.  This begins by learning self-leadership, which includes self-responsibility and self-discipline.

Studying the lives of many of the greatest leaders of all time, you will find that they spent many years in disciplined preparation for their most important role of leadership.  They patiently grew by following others, observing and learning from their strengths and their mistakes.  They recognize a need, sometimes in others, often times within themself and take action to meet that need.  Service is the true foundation and motivation for leadership. And service is established and expanded as one practices it.  Leaders grow people, starting with themselves.

 “Leaders strengthen credibility by demonstrating that they are not in it for themselves; instead, they have the interests of the institution, department, or team and its constituents at heart. Being a servant may not be what many leaders had in mind when they choose to take responsibility for the vision and direction of their organization or team, but serving others is the most glorious and rewarding of all leadership tasks.” – James Kouzes and Barry Posner

Author: George Hendley
Instructor, Brightwing

George is a speaker, trainer and coach. Learn more about the instructor-led courses Brightwing offers. For a complete list of courses and detailed course outlines call 888-521-2478, ext. 317 or email Jenny.

Big Risks & Big Rewards: Letting Employees Work from Home

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Despite Yahoo’s recent ban on working from home, many companies are still opting to let employees work remotely, even if they live fairly close to the office. But, as with everything, a work from home policy can have its pros and cons. That much is evident from the story of Yahoo, where employees were collecting paychecks while spending work hours on side projects and startups. Here are some of the rewards and drawbacks to letting your employees work remotely.

 

Pros – When things go right:

  • Increase Productivity: When you give people flexibility, employees feel trusted and empowered to manage their own desk. Studies also show that employees who are allowed to occasionally work from home are more productive.
  • Build Loyalty:  People want to work where they feel valued and appreciated as a person. Offering a flexible plan demonstrates you realize everyone has different personal and family obligations.

“Its amazing how someone’s IQ seems to double as soon as you give them responsibility and indicate that you trust them.”
– Tim Ferriss author of 4 Hour Work Week

  • Spur Creativity: By changing up the environment, employees have been shown to be more innovative and creative.
  • Motivate and Attract Top Talent: Granting work from home status can be used as an incentive or perk: one that costs you very little, if anything.

Cons – When things go wrong:

  • Degrades Culture: Managed incorrectly, a work from home policy can lead to a deterioration of culture and morale.
  • Generates Resentment:  Obviously, not all jobs can be done remotely. An unfair policy can create turmoil and resentment.
  • Isolates and Decreases Productivity: Working from home excessively can lead to isolation and idleness. Without the social benefits of working in an office, employees can start to feel isolated and unmotivated.

If you’re thinking about instating a work from home policy in your office, in most cases, a practical rule of thumb seems to be moderation. Your organization might be able to benefit from the perks of allowing employees to work remotely by offering up the option once or twice per week. For instance, at Brightwing many of the working mothers and fathers with young children opt to work from home one day a week. Likewise, if you have to stay home one day to wait for the cable guy, no one will turn up their nose.  There are many examples of the good, the bad and the ugly of working from home. Still interested? Here are some great tips for creating a practical and successful work from home policy at your organization.

The concept of workplace flexibility definitely seems here to stay, but exactly what that looks like for the future and for individual organizations is yet to be seen.

April JenningsAuthor: April Jennings

 

How Do You Know When It’s Time to Quit Your Job?

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What drew you to the company you work for? Was it your education, circumstances, or your “career path?” Challenge, growth, values, environment, training, work/life balance, and over-all fit can be key factors in determining if you should get off at this stop, stay on a bit longer, or get on the next bus out of town. Leaving any occupation isn’t a small decision, but, like breakups, sometimes we don’t realize the magnitude of unhappiness until we are out of that situation. So how do you know when it’s time to leave the company where you are currently employed?

Make sure your nosy cube-mates and/or human resources managers aren’t near – if you are already having doubts, this ride could get bumpy. There is no one answer to knowing when you should leave your company or if you should leave at all, but here are a few of the more obvious signs that you aren’t happy with your professional life, or have outgrown where you are.

1. You genuinely dread going to work, not just on Monday’s, but every day, and the thought preoccupies your free time.

2. Your “situation” has changed. When you started your career you may have been single, and able to live on a certain salary, but right now you may be married with three children and have a car payment. If your essential needs as a person are not able to be met anymore, and there is no room for upward mobility in position or paycheck it may be time to let your current employer go.

3. Boredom. In the same way that a highly intelligent child may under perform in an unchallenging class, you too may be under performing because, well, you are unchallenged at work. If you are unable to move up, gain more responsibility or take on different projects in your current company, looking for an opportunity where advancement is an option may be in your best interest.

Here are a few of the less obvious identifiers:

1. Complacency. You are comfortable with where you are. You may love the company you work for, but your job is “fine” and vice versa. For some people this will work just “fine” for the rest of their professional lives, but realize that while the situation might not get worse, it also may never get any better.

2. The wheels are constantly spinning, but you aren’t actually driving anywhere. You are undervalued even if you come in at 7 and leave at 6. You find yourself thinking “If only I work a little harder, a little longer, get involved in EVERYTHING, someone will notice and reward me.” Some companies don’t necessarily have a culture that values hard workers like you, but there will always be one out there that does. Find it.

Whether you are deep-rooted into a company or just starting out, you have the right to be happy. As Joe Gibbs said, “People who enjoy what they are doing invariably do it well,” so look out for any warning signs and listen to yourself.

Why You Should Get Up before 6 AM

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What do some of business’s most successful people have in common? They are early risers. Here’s a list of 27 top executives that take waking up early to a whole new level.  To get ahead and reach that next level in your career an early morning wake up call might be just what you need. Here are a few strategies that can make getting up early a little easier and help you get ahead:

  • Don’t assume that you will go from an 8:30 wake up to a 6:00 seamlessly. Start by waking up 20 minutes earlier each morning, until it gets easier.
  • Regular exercise helps regulate your sleep patterns, but doing it right before you try to go to bed can keep you up because of the heart and brain stimulation. Making a habit to work out earlier in the day, morning, lunchtime or right after work, will help you get a good night’s sleep and ensure an easier wake up.
  • Shut down before you go to bed. TV, Tablets, computers and cell phones stimulate your brain activity, disrupting your body’s ability to fall asleep. I am guilty of falling asleep while listening to the TV, but I do notice that I get more sound sleep and wake up better when the room is quiet and dark.
  • Organize your day the night before. If you are all set for your Monday, on Sunday night, you have a much better chance at having a great start to the week with less anxiety. Prepare lunches, wash and iron clothes, and pack your gym bag.
  • Set your alarm to something pleasant. April has a daylight alarm that starts gradually waking her up with light, and at the actual wake up time it plays nature music. I wake up to music on the radio. Whatever sound would help you get excited about the day, you should play it!

It’s hard to be like top CEO’s every day, but if you set a goal to get up an hour or two earlier than normal stick to it. Getting up early can help you get to work earlier, prioritize your time, set goals, prepare for meetings and be proactive about tasks and projects.  If you are having a hard time getting up because you aren’t happy with your job, getting up earlier can help you set yourself up for a new job or a promotion, and all of the work that goes into the process. As far as I am concerned there aren’t any negatives that come out of becoming a morning person, so when you wake up, WAKE UP!

Author: Elyse Lopez

How to Discover Your “Why”

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According to an article on Forbes, over 50% of Americans hate their jobs.  A Gallup poll reported that 70% of employees are not engaged or actively disengage at work, meaning that they are emotionally disconnected from their workplaces and are less likely to be productive.  In the same poll, it was reported that disengaged employees had a tougher time getting up and going to work on Mondays – shocker!

I used to be one of those statistics.  I woke up dreading going into the office, and, once I was there, I could not wait until the day was over.  I eventually realized what an unproductive, uninspiring and downright depressing situation I was in, and I quit.

Today, waking up every morning and going to work is not a chore.  I actually enjoy work and look forward to being surrounded by people who share a similar feeling.  I have been with Brightwing for over a decade, and I can honestly say that I have never dreaded coming to work (and I’m not just saying that because my boss is going to read this).

What I now understand is how important it is to feel connected to the organization I work for. When I was a disengaged employee who hated going to work, I was not inspired by the leadership of the organization, felt that I had no purpose beyond making money, and there was no vision or greater purpose for the organization as a whole.  I felt no connection to the organization’s success and was just trying to make a buck.  The organization did not have a “Why.”

Today, I work for an organization with a leadership team that believes in more than just making money.  I clearly understand the vision and greater purpose of the organization, and I am excited about it.  I understand how my role fits in the big picture and how I can help the organization achieve its greater purpose.  What I have discovered is that I share the same feelings as employees at the world’s best companies, like Zappos, Google, and Southwest Airlines, just to name a few.

It was not until recently that, inspired by Simon Sinek, our organization went through an exercise to define our “Why.”  It was a collaborative effort that included members of the executive leadership team, managers, and employees, and together we distilled our Why to a few simple words that defines why each of us come to work every day.  For me, the result was feeling connected to a greater purpose.

Do you understand what the greater purpose for the company is?  Are you inspired by the leaders of the organization?  Do you understand how you fit into the big picture?  Over half of us can answer NO.  If you feel disconnected to your job or the company you work for, start asking WHY.

Connect yourself to the greater purpose.

4 Ways to Lose the People You Hire

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If this list describes your recruiting process, you may soon be looking for a new employee to fill the spot you think you  just filled.

73% of employees expect to leave their current job for another job at some point.
32% want to leave their job now.
28% expect that to happen within two years.

For employers, those are shuddering statistics. Replacing employees is time consuming and expensive. When you bring a new person on board, the last thing you need is to be replacing that position again in the short term.  Yet, many employers find themselves in this time consuming and money-draining situation. Here are four ways to ensure that you’re not one of them.

#1: Hasty Hiring Process
The fact that you have a position to fill indicates you have an unmet need, so your haste to fill that need is understandable. But it’s not smart. If you rush the candidate screening process (or don’t have one at all), fast-forward the interviews without really getting to know your candidates, or extend an offer before giving the candidate a chance to meet the team, you will likely find yourself with an incomplete match. Culture fit is essential to the long-term success of your employees, and getting the right culture fit takes time. If you are simply focused on filling a seat, you’ll get exactly that – a filled seat (for now).

#2: Poorly Structured Onboarding Process
You found the person you wanted, extended an offer, and they accepted. Everything has been signed, and your new employee is walking in the door for their first day. Check the box! Recruiting is over, right? Wrong. The success of your recruiting depends at least as much on the onboarding process as the recruiting process. If you simply throw your new hire into the fray without the proper introductions, expectations, or the right tools to do the job correctly, you will lose the employee – mentally if he sticks around, and physically if he doesn’t.

#3: Lack of People Focus
Every company watches the bottom line; what are you doing to watch your people just as closely? They are more than just “equipment.” They have unique needs. They feel emotion. They want to know how they are contributing to the organization’s success. They want to enjoy coming to work. Too many companies forget to formally recognize their employees for jobs well done, provide ongoing personal/professional development opportunities, or offer regular feedback on job performance. These companies find themselves with dispassionate, unhappy, and unproductive employees. That’s because the best employees have already left.

#4: Poor Benefits
Total compensation will always be a primary factor in employee satisfaction and longevity. We’re not just talking about salary, medical and 401k plans however. What kind of creative benefits (gym memberships, time off for volunteer work, flex work schedules, etc.) do you offer your employees? How flexible are you in accommodating their personal time? What opportunities do they have to participate in work outside their normal job descriptions? The cost of these types of fringe benefits is more than offset by the increased engagement and happiness of your employees. If they are not excited to work for you, they will find another business where they are.

Enough negativity. This list does not have to describe your company. With appropriate attention to the right details, you can hire top people and be confident that they will be with you for a long time. Brightwing is committed to helping you do that. We do more than just provide qualified candidates; we partner with you to make sure those candidates fit your culture and want to work for you. We’ll help you bring the right people in, then help you make them want to stay.

Tell Pride Stories During Onboarding

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Consider adding pride stories in various sections of your on-boarding program. One of the most important messages is to communicate “Pride Stories” (implicitly and explicitly) that will attract and retain employees so they can be proud to work at your organization.

Implicitly: by conducting a well-designed, well-organized, effective on-boarding program so new hires can see the organization does things right. It shows “I’m part of a great organization,” and respect for management “The organization knows what they’re doing here.”

Explicitly: by sharing stories that communicate “You can be proud to work here” by sharing stories that demonstrate why your organization is worthy of pride. Consider stories new hires can share with their families.

Key themes your stories may include:

1. What makes your product or service great.
2. How your product or service has made a difference in the lives or businesses of your customers.
3. The good things your organization does in your local community, or for the world community.
4. Examples of employees or contract workers performing at elite levels, such as providing over-the-top customer service that blows your customers away.
5. How your organization is run with integrity, respect for its people, and competence.

How do you obtain pride stories?

  • Collect them from employees at all levels, about Moments of Truth that illustrate why they are proud to work in your organization.
  • Collect and cataloged them in a database. (Note what they communicate and what value they personify.)

Once you have collected the stories, you can: 1) include them in the on-boarding program, 2) include them on your recruiting site and/or 3) have recruiters share them at job fairs and in hiring interviews.

Sharing stories that inspire pride as part of your new hire on-boarding program not only will make your program more inspiring, it will also help to “confirm the decision” in your new hire’s minds that they made the right choice. So be sure to add pride stories that communicate “You can be proud to work here” in your on-boarding program.

How to Address Your Weaknesses and Grow

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We all have weaknesses; it’s just a fact.  So why do we have a tendency to hide, mask, or defend our weaknesses rather than embracing them?  I think it is because we have a fear of being judged.  Well, I am putting myself out there, and I recently made a commitment to addressing one of my own weaknesses (or areas of opportunity for improvement, as I like to call them) and sharing what I learned.
One of my biggest weaknesses is communicating my ideas in written form. In college, I would wait until the last minute to write a paper and pull an all-nighter to get it done. It wasn’t because I procrastinated; rather, it was because I was avoiding my weakness. I can write processes and procedures, document facts, etc., but when it comes to articulating my own ideas on paper, it does not come naturally. Unlike many, I would rather stand up in front of a group and verbally explain my thoughts, which works in some situations but not all. I had always viewed writing as a weakness of mine until recently. Now I view it as one of my greatest areas of opportunity for improvement. Writing will probably never be my greatest strength, but by making a concerted effort to work on it, I will at least improve.

Maybe the steps I took to address and improve my weakness can help you, too:

1. Admit your weakness; understand that everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

Being self-aware is the first step and an important one.  We all have weaknesses, some we admit and others we try to hide.  In my experience, the ones we try to hide or mask are the most important weaknesses to work on.  Is there anything that you’re overcompensating for?

2. Lose your ego (This is the toughest part!); look at it as an opportunity for growth and not a weakness

Our egos are the number one obstacle to changing or improving a weakness.  We tend to feel vulnerable, and when that happens we either fight or flee… It’s animal instinct.  We are protecting our egos.  It’s only when we accept our weakness and overcome our egos that we are able to constructively work on a weakness.

3. Commit to addressing your opportunity for growth constructively.

This step can only happen if you really want to learn/grow/change.  If you’re not committed to addressing a weakness because it was someone else’s idea, or you really don’t care, you will not really grow.  I really want to be better at sharing my ideas in written form. I have always known it is a weakness of mine, but I finally made the commitment to work on it.

4. Identify people who can help you.

All of the best athletes, executives, and performers have a team helping them be their best, and you should too. I identified the following types of people to help me:

a. People I trust, that won’t judge but will give me honest feedback

b. An Accountability Partner – someone who will be honest and hold me accountable to my plan

c. Someone whose greatest strength is my weakness

If you are avoiding your weaknesses and just relying on your strengths, you aren’t growing. For me, I never want to stop growing and improving myself both personally and professionally. I invite you all to join to the program. Always Be Growing!

Are Your Best Employees Dumping You This Year?

Retain your top performersWhat was your New Year’s resolution? Did you give up smoking? Are you eating healthier? Exercising more? The beginning of a new year often brings changes designed to improve your life in one way or another. Professionally, ’tis the season for employees to consider switching jobs, or even careers, in order to achieve a new level of satisfaction. As an employer, how do you retain the people that might otherwise be starting to look elsewhere?

According to the 2012 Allied Workforce Mobility Survey, it costs companies an average of almost $11,000 just to fill and on-board one position. Besides the fact that you’ve invested a significant amount of time, effort, and money just getting a person in the door, the majority of them are meeting or exceeding your expectations, giving you a good ROI. Employees like this are the ones that you want to make an effort to keep.

You can do all kinds of research on retention strategies, but what it boils down to is this: find out what your employees really want. There are certain elements of the job and the company that attract candidates in the first place, but it usually takes a different set of “must-haves” to keep them satisfied. While free slushies and cappuccinos, a lax dress code, or a high base salary might draw them in, if they’re not happy, they probably won’t want to stay. In general, employees want constructive relationships with their managers, clear and realistic job expectations, legitimate opportunities for growth and advancement, a fair compensation and benefits package, a good cultural fit, a certain level of work/life balance, and high quality management and workforce.

How do you find out what your employees want? Just ask (duh!). Start with exit interviews and post-exit interviews, especially with your top-performers, to find out why they’re leaving. Obviously, you don’t want to wait ’til they’re on their way out the door to find out why they’re leaving: it’s typically too little too late, at that point. Instead, you can send out surveys to, or even have conversations with, your current employees – find out what you’re doing well and what you could do better. In the end, though, you need to be prepared to make some changes based on the information you gather. Otherwise, the employees you talk to might be on their way out, as well.

 

How Smart Leaders Motivate Employees

It’s the first week of the new year and many managers are re-evaluating and updating the job accountabilities of their direct reports. The Metiss Group recently wrote a good article on the importance of reviewing job activities, priorities and success factors.  Hopefully while you’re setting all these expectations you’re also putting some thought into how you will motivate, recognize and award your employees for a job well done throughout 2013.

We know how important employee engagement is to the success of our organization and recognizing and praising someone when they have done something above and beyond for the company is integral to driving positive employee engagement. The numbers speak for themselves. The inographic below details employee engagement and employee recognition statistics. The key fact that stood out to me was that almost 70% of employees said they would work harder if they were better recognized.

Step 1: Communicate more than you think is necessary and share company information. Your employees should understand how company or departmental changes will affect their work and your expectations. Part of recognizing employees is making sure they know how the work they do impacts the organization. Everyone wants to know they make a difference and are contributing towards the goals of the company.

Step 2: Recognition can come in many different forms and people want to be acknowledged in different ways. Find out what your employees value and customize the recognition you give. Effective recognition can come in the form of verbal praise, a written note, gift certificates or you can get creative. Best Western  publicly recognizes their employees’ accomplishments using social media. Duke asks their staff to recognize a colleague making a difference. The submissions are shared publicly on the university blog.  Just remember, not everyone likes the limelight.

Step 3: Be consistent. Continue to recognize employees on an ongoing basis. Once responsibilities are met, assign “stretching assignments.” Provide more opportunity for your employees to impact the department or company goals.

 April JenningsAuthor: April Jennings

What Message is your Employer Brand Sending?

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Employer branding helps organizations uncover, articulate, and define their image, culture, differentiators, and reputation for the purposes of attracting quality talent. So consider building your employer brand into your on-boarding program.

The on-boarding process is linked to and in some ways starts with the “employer brand” that you create to attract, engage, and retain the best people who are the right fit for your company’s overall goals. Some points to remember:

  • Your brand will be what potential employees (employee or contractor worker) recognize as who you are and why they want to be a part of your company.
  • Start before the candidate is formally hired by including information about your workplace and your culture in a Careers section in your website.
  • Send an employee handbook and other information prior to the first day of on-boarding.

The employee experience starts with the new hires first interaction with an organization—recruiting. The first impression a potential employee may have may extend far beyond company offerings in position, salary, and benefits to the employer’s value proposition and brand. The employer’s value proposition and brand can include several things: the employee’s opportunities for career advancement, rewards and recognition, management style, and company culture. The employer’s value proposition and brand are the elements that impact the employee’s experience and their decision to join and remain with an organization.

The importance of brand doesn’t stop at the recruiting process. Some organizations support formal career tracks for their employees in order to create the right kind of employee experience. Brightwing for instance recently received the “Coolest Places to Work For” label that aids in brand building. New hires like to know that an organization is committed to employees’ long-term growth and development.

Helping your people shine.
On-boarding programs provide a good opportunity to reinforce the employer brand and generate a positive employee experience. A new hire that goes through a company’s on-boarding program and sees: a solid company message on the organizational culture, the mission and vision from the CEO, colleagues are upbeat, the company’s core products, value propositions, and performance expectations are clear and consistently presented, and a buddy and/or mentorship have been established, will be more likely to be excited to be part of the team, have a positive attitude, and refer a skilled peer to the organization.

The company’s strategic objectives and mission should be clearly communicated in the on-boarding program and continue through in the employee’s life cycle. They are the key components that drive the employer brand.

Companies spend billions every year on their consumer brands to attract new customers and open new markets. Happy employees can also be great brand sale people. Does your new hire on-boarding program work to attract, retain, and motivate happy employees that can share the organization’s vision, mission, and products with a potential customer as an ambassador for the company’s brand?

Why Working Out is Good for Your Career

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Think you’re too busy working to work out? Think twice before skipping that trip to the gym. You may be doing your career more harm than good. Research shows that staying active can have not only physical and emotional benefits, but can give you a professional boost as well.

We all know the drill: You’re working late hours, skipping meals (that or eating out of the vending machine), not getting enough sleep each night, all in the name of climbing the corporate ranks faster and getting ahead.  Between work and family obligations, workouts come sometime between “tomorrow” and never. But are you really getting ahead?

The proof is in the (Brain) Muscle
In addition to helping you look and feel better, regular workouts can make you more resilient, sharper and increase productivity and efficiency. According to the Mayo Clinic exercise has been proven to boost energy levels throughout the day and help your body handle stress. Active people may also have lower rates of depression and anxiety. Research points to changes in brain chemistry and changes in body temperature and cardiorespiratory function during exercise as the reason. Staying in tip top shape will help you bring your strongest, healthiest and best-self to work.

Effects on Salary
It turns out that your salary may also be affected by your commitment to staying healthy and active. A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology in 2011 found that slender women out-earned their overweight female colleagues by a significant margin. The same however did exactly ring true for men, Men of moderate weight, meanwhile, earned more than both slender men and overweight men. These prejudices are undoubtedly unjust, but never the less, getting in shape may help boost your earning power.

What you can do right NOW
Stop making excuses and find new ways to get active. Set an alarm on your phone and get up from your desk briefly every 20 minutes. View a list of exercises you can do at or near your desk. I found these short office workout videos particularly amusing if you’re in need of a good laugh. Squeeze in a workout at lunch. Recruit a co-worker to make it more fun.  A group of Brightwingers recently hit up Airtime on their lunch break and burned an average of 300 calories each in just 1 hour. Forget the gym and walk/jog the stairs. Skip happy hour and meet up with friends after work for a a workout class. The CEO of Brightwing, Aaron Chernow, says “Get up early!” As a CEO and father of three, time is short, but nothing can get in the way of his early morning workout.

(Image from: FitSpace – Graphic can be purchased on a mug.)Exercises you can do at your desk

What Can Companies Do?
Companies should be tuned into the health of their employees as well. A study published in Health Affairs found that for every dollar invested in a comprehensive workplace wellness program, companies saved $3.27 in medical costs and $2.73 in costs associated to absenteeism.  Effective workplace wellness programs have a positive impact on budgets, productivity and health outcomes. Learn more about the profits of a healthy workplace.

Get Creative! Offer lunch-time yoga/Pilates classes (Brightwing does and it’s awesome!), convert a conference room in your office into a mini gym. All you need is a few treadmills or elliptical machines, jump ropes and free weights.

Now get moving!